Miscaptioned photos do not show Kenyans queueing to sell US dollars in February 2024

One of the images, featuring the logo and branding of leading Kenyan news website Standard Digital, was posted on X on February 15, 2024. It has since been shared more than 400 times.

“Welcome to Kenya where people queue to #SellYourDollars at a cheaper price,” reads the post caption.

Image

Screenshot showing the false post, taken on February 17, 2024

A text overlay says: “Kenyans queue outside NCBA bank to sell dollars.”

NCBA is a leading regional bank headquartered in Nairobi with operations in multiple African countries. It is one of the largest banks in Kenya.

A second post showing the logo of the Daily Nation newspaper made the same claim on X, using a different image of people lining up.

Image

Screenshot showing the false image, taken on February 17, 2024

According to the posts, Kenyans had hoarded US dollars in anticipation of profiting from their increasing value but then decided to sell them as the currency started to drop against the local shilling.

An unstable shilling

On October 24, 2023, the Kenyan shilling breached the 150 mark against the US dollar following a period of consistent depreciation (archived here).

This has resulted in higher costs for importers and merchants, while the country's external debt burden has increased from a local currency standpoint.

Exporters, on the other hand, have enjoyed exchange gains when paid in US dollars.

On February 1, 2024, a US dollar was trading at 160.7 Kenyan shillings (archived here). However, by February 15, 2024, the price had dropped to 153.2 (archived here). 

The shilling’s surge in value was primarily attributed to the rising confidence of investors, as the government received substantial inflows to settle its US$2 billion Eurobond, which is due to mature in June 2024.

The appreciation of the shilling lowers the cost of imports in local currency as importers pay less for the same volume of goods.

A stronger shilling is beneficial for the Kenyan government because it reduces the expenses associated with servicing the national debt.

On the flip side, individuals and businesses who have US dollars are at risk of losing money. This significant increase in the value of the shilling has caused losses for people who earn or hold dollars.

However, the images shared in the posts do not depict panicked hoarders queueing to dispose of the US currency at banks.

Miscaptioned photos

Using a reverse image search, AFP Fact Check found that the image with the Standard Digital logo and web address had been online since at least 2017. 

Kenya's Business Daily newspaper published the photo on June 4, 2017 (archived here). It was credited as a file photo of the Nation Media Group (NMG), which owns the paper. 

"Kenyans submit job applications for government jobs last week," the caption reads.

Image

Screenshot showing the photo with its original caption published by Kenya’s Business Daily

The Standard Digital rejected the posts circulating online as “fake” on its official X account on February 15, 2024.

Meanwhile, the photo featuring the Nation newspaper logo has been online since at least 2018. It was published by the Daily Nation on July 6, 2018 (archived here) to illustrate a story about job seekers in Nairobi queueing for interviews.

The NCBA bank, mentioned in both images, also denounced the online claims through its X account.

As of February 19, 2024, the shilling was trading at 142.8 against the US dollar.